Tommy McQuater

Thomas Mossie "Tommy" McQuater (4 September 1914 – 20 January 2008) was a Scottish jazz trumpeter.

Tommy McQuater
Birth nameThomas Mossie McQuater
Born(1914-09-04)4 September 1914
OriginMaybole, Ayrshire, Scotland
Died20 January 2008(2008-01-20) (aged 93)
GenresJazz
InstrumentsTrumpet
Flugelhorn
Associated actsGeorge Chisholm

Biography

Born in Maybole, Ayrshire, McQuater was most notable for his work in the United Kingdom with Bert Ambrose in the 1930s, and also for some recordings done with George Chisholm and Benny Carter. McQuater showed musical talent from an early age. Largely self-taught, he began on the cornet and by the age of 11 was a regular member of the Maybole Burgh Band – a brass band that won several competitions in the late 1920s – and played at local events and dances.[1]

McQuater turned professional in his teens and got a regular position with Louis Freeman's Band, which played at Greens Playhouse in Glasgow.[2]

In 1934, aged 20, McQuater was offered a job with one of London's most renowned bands: the Jack Payne Orchestra, which played in London and Paris. The following year he joined Lew Stone's band[2] and made the classic recording of "Pardon Me, Pretty Baby". In the 1940s, McQuater joined The Squadronaires, and worked with the BBC Showband in 1945. McQuater often performed with John McLevy[2] in the 1970s and 1980s. In his later years, he concentrated his energy and playing around the Ealing Jazz Festival.[3]

Death

He died in London, aged 93, and was survived by his two sons.

Select discography

With Johnny Dankworth

With George Chisholm

  • Early Days 1935-1944 (Timeless Holland)

With Bert Ambrose & His Orchestra

With Kenny Baker

With Tommy Watt and His Orchestra

With The Vile Bodies Swing Band

gollark: The bottom one is hydrogen, the top is hydrogen/deuterium.
gollark: Yep!
gollark: I have this cool bare-metal OC-based management program which ensures they run at max efficiency and don't overheat.
gollark: Or, well, partly replace them, or at least work as backups.
gollark: The Unicode Consortium's main fusion reactors (left) have proven hilariously unreliable because of some giant tangled mess of ender tanks and wireless power links, so I built a shiny new less messy system (right) to replace them.

References
  1. The Guardian obituary, guardian.co.uk; accessed 22 October 2016.
  2. Vacher, Peter (26 January 2008). "Tommy McQuater: The last of a line of great jazzmen, his musical career spanned eight decades". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  3. "Tommy McQuater". 24 January 2008. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 January 2019.


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